Red, White, and Blue
by AnimeWolfGirl9
Summary: Sometimes the most precious memories start with a step and a second chance at life, but those memories can only be made by those brave enough to take a chance. (Fourth of July fanfiction)
1. Swimming Isn't the Problem

Quick note before we start:

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Last of Us or anything else mentioned, and everything belongs rightfully to their owners.**

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Chapter 1: Swimming Isn't the Problem…

Joel watched as Ellie stood at the edge of the large pond, slight fear and disbelief in her eyes.

"We're going to what?" she asks as she looks at him, making him sigh when he realized that she either hadn't been paying attention or couldn't quite believe what he had said.

"We're going to teach you how to swim," he repeated, seeing her give a quick glance to the body of water a few feet away, shaking her head.

"I don't think-" she started, backing away from the water a bit. He knew she wouldn't bolt back to Tommy's, but he grabbed her wrist anyways.

"I-" he started, but left off to collect his thoughts for a moment, not wanting to mess up, "We need to figure this out. I don't want a repeat of you nearly drowning on me."

By the look in her eyes, she knew what he meant. He had explained to her a few days after arriving back at Tommy's that she had fallen into the rapids trying to save him and nearly drowned. He wasn't quite sure that she actually remembered the event, but he knew they had to do something about the issue.

Ellie stayed silent at his comment, making him sigh in frustration. She was stubborn most of the time, but this was one thing he wasn't going to budge on.

"It's a lot easier than you would think," he encouraged, starting to walk towards the water. He glanced back, seeing her uncertain expression, "You should at least try."

"Alright," she mumbled after a moment of hesitation, following him towards the pond. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but her steps seemed somewhat shaky.

_She might just be nervous,_ he thought, taking his shoes and socks off. He motioned for Ellie to do the same, and she mirrored him after another round of hesitation.

"This part is shallow enough so that you can wade at first," Joel stepped into the water, feeling the bottom as he started to walk deeper into the pond, "Right here you need to-"

He stopped talking and turned around, some surprise filtering through him when he realized Ellie wasn't following him; she was standing in the same spot at the edge of the pond.

"Ellie, come on," he motioned for her to follow, and her expression looked divided between doing as he said and something else he couldn't identify.

"I-" she started, shaking her head, "I can't."

A frown appeared on his face at her words, shocking and confusing him. Ellie had never said she couldn't do anything before.

"You can't what?" he questioned, starting to wade through the water back towards her. She bit her lip, staring at the ground.

"I can't swim," she stated, making his confusion rise even more as he got out of the water.

"That's why I'm going to teach you how to," his statement made her shake her head again.

"I _can't_," she stated again, this time more firmly.

"You can learn how to swim-" he started to argue, but then his mind came to a conclusion.

He stared at her for a moment, realizing how uncomfortable she looked standing at the edge of the pond. Her eyes were cast towards the ground, but short glances at the water made them fill with slight fear, leading to his conclusion.

"You're afraid of water, aren't you?" he questioned, and a somewhat angry expression came onto her face.

"Who ever said that I was-?" she started to ask, but he finished her sentence.

"Hydrophobic? You look at the water as if it's going to bite you," he finished, and she realized that she had been caught.

"Yeah, it's going to hold me under and choke the life out of me," she mumbled irritably, making him take a deep breath.

This was going to be harder than he had first thought.

"You usually are willing to try to learn anything," he said after a moment, trying to get her to feel a bit more comfortable. Maybe if she opened up to him about her fear, she wouldn't feel so afraid.

"Not anything," she argued, still not looking at him. Her gaze was still drawn towards the ground and the small glances at the source of her fear had lessened.

"You were excited about learning guitar," she shook her head, still being stubborn.

"Yeah, but that was after several failed attempts."

He was getting nowhere fast, and they had to be heading back to Tommy's in an hour. He had told his brother that they wouldn't be long, and Ellie most likely was trying to stall until time ran out.

"You were the one who asked me to teach you how to swim when our journey was over, remember?" Joel knew he had hit a nerve; Ellie walked over to a log near the pond and sat down, not looking at him.

For once, he was completely stumped. How was he going to teach Ellie how to swim if she refused to get into the water?

"If you won't walk in, then I can throw you in," he spoke what came to mind as he walked over towards her. She looked at him skeptically, almost judging if he would go through with his threat.

"If you throw me in, then I will drown," she countered, her eyes not leaving where he was standing.

He was starting to realize that his 'threat' may not have been the best thing to say.

"You won't drown if you learn how to swim while in there," he argued, pointing towards the pond. Ellie's gaze followed where he was pointing, frowning at him a moment later.

"I won't know how to swim if you throw me in," he sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument.

_Maybe we should come back another day…_ the thought trailed off as he spied something at the other end of the pond.

He glanced at Ellie and then started to walk into the water again. She didn't need to be told to stay where she was.

He swam over to where the object was partially hidden by weeds and water plants. He was able to stand up now, and started to tug on the object, making it splash into the water a moment later. He brought it over to where Ellie was waiting.

"What is that?" she asked, looking somewhat confused about where he was going with this. He knew that she would know what it was, making him shake his head.

"An old fishing boat," he explained, and then held it at the pond's edge, motioning towards the inside of the boat, "Get in."

She gave him a somewhat surprised glance as she looked between him and the boat.

"You can't be serious," she stated, but then sighed in defeat at the look he gave her, "Fine."

She walked towards the boat, giving him a somewhat pleading expression. He shook his head, motioning towards the boat again. He heard her take a deep breath before stepping into the boat.

No sooner had she gotten inside, she quickly slumped to the ground, sitting inside the boat in the middle.

He let her stay like that for a few moments before slowly walking into the water, pulling the boat along the surface.

"Joel, I don't think-" Ellie started to protest, fear clearly in her voice, but he cut her off.

"You're fine. I'm not going to let you fall in," he stated, trying to comfort her.

"Promise?" the word came out soft and full of fear, and he heard her take a shaky breath. He waited for a moment, making sure the boat wouldn't have the possibility of turning over.

"Yeah, I promise."

His statement seemed to give her some hope. They were silent for a few moments, and Joel was actually starting to think she was getting over her fear. Another deep, shaky breath made his hopes fall though.

"Joel, can I get out now?" she asked, making him glance at the side of the boat as he swam with it in tow to the middle of the pond.

"Into the water?" he questioned, knowing it was probably not likely.

"No. Back onto the land," she said after a moment, sounding somewhat sick.

"Not yet," he sighed, knowing this might take longer than the hour they had, "You're doing fine."

"I don't like how it sounds," he almost couldn't hear what she said, but when he made out the words, he grew confused.

"The water?"

"Yeah. It sounds weird."

He took a deep breath, trying to sort out what was bothering her. The water sounded weird?

"The sound bothers you?" he questioned, mentally seeing her nod.

"I don't know how to describe it…" she trailed off for a moment before continuing, "I just don't like it."

Joel knew that he probably wouldn't get her in the water today, but at least they had a start.

_And we have a little time left,_ he thought, trying to at least get Ellie used to the boat.

"Ellie-" he started to say, but she interrupted him.

"What if someone hostile finds us here?" she asked, and the boat swayed a bit as she moved a little, "What would we do then?"

"We have our things over there," he pointed to the bushes where they had hidden their backpacks, and he wondered how it was possible that she could have forgotten.

"That's still 'over there'," she argued, "I really think we should get heading back."

Something was making her uneasy, and he knew it wasn't only the water.

"Alright," he muttered, starting to maneuver his way towards the shore. Something was starting to not feel right, and it was starting to make him uneasy as well.

They were now underneath a patch of trees that grew slightly over the water, making it somewhat cooler than in the sun. Everything seemed too quite in his experience, and it seemed as if the world was holding its breath.

Gunshots rang out suddenly, slicing into the water and the side of the boat. He ducked under the water, slightly hidden in the shade from the trees as he waited for the gunshots to cease.

The boat started rocking side to side a bit, and his eyes widened as he saw it flip. Ellie fell into the water a few feet away from him, making him panic. He quickly swam towards her, pulling her up towards the surface.

She came up sputtering for air, and he realized they were inside the small pocket of air of the overturned boat.

_Thankfully it didn't sink,_ he thought, turning his attention now to seeing how Ellie was doing.

"You alright?" his question was met with an angry glare.

"You said you wouldn't let me fall in!" she nearly yelled, but he gave her a warning glance, making her lower her voice.

He faintly heard noises of footsteps echoing from the space outside of the overturned boat. He knew what that meant: either they had been ambushed by the Bandits, or the group was being cautious and didn't know they were there yet.

_Let's hope it's the second option,_ Ellie's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Now what?" she asked, and he could tell that she was trying to stay calm. She was struggling to stay afloat, and he was trying to help, but the combined weight of keeping himself and Ellie floating was draining his strength.

"Time for a quick briefing on swimming," he muttered, glancing down at the water and then at Ellie. Her eyes widened, and she somewhat started to panic a bit.

"Quick briefing?" she questioned, "If you're going to teach me how to swim, you should give me a full lesson beforehand."

"Consider this a full lesson then," he took a deep breath, getting his thoughts in order before continuing, "You need to kick your feet in the water; use the motion it creates to keep you floating. Use your arms to help swim and to guide which way you are going."

He had no idea how he was going to demonstrate to her how to do this, considering if he let her go, she would probably drown.

_She has a good memory, so let's hope she remembers all of this._

"Like this?" she asked, partially sounding out of breath. He glanced down into the water to see her kicking her feet furiously back and forth. At that rate she would exhaust herself, but it was a starting point.

"Yeah, sort of," he nodded, looking at her, "Try to slow down your pace; you're going to exhaust yourself at that rate. Cut through the water with your feet in wider kicks, but you want to make sure that you have enough power behind them to move."

Ellie nodded, soaking in the information the best she could. He wasn't really sure how to explain everything to her, but they also needed a plan to get away from the Bandits.

"Hold your breath once you go under, and don't breath in the water," he took a deep breath, not sure what else to tell her.

"Well, shouldn't that be obvious?" she asked, frowning a bit. He shook his head, thinking of an escape plan.

The number of bandits in the group was unknown and, if luck was on their side, hopefully it would only be a small scouting group. They had run into those in the past on a few hunting trips, so they weren't uncommon.

_Now for the plan…_

"Ellie, we're going to need to swim underwater to the shore," he started, but she interrupted before he could finish explaining.

"Won't they see us either way?"

"Stay in the shadowed parts of the water and we should be alright," he paused, listening to see if anyone was nearby before continuing, "We're going to need to get to our gear. You remember where that is?"

"The bushes," she stated, and he could almost see the imaginary picture pop into her head.

"This isn't the time to be making maps," he shook his head, thinking through what they had to do next, "We can either get away unnoticed, or we need to take these guys out."

"Depending on how many of them there are," she confirmed, and he nodded, "But either way, we can't lead them back to the settlement."

"Yeah, we definitely can't lead them back to Tommy's," he knew his younger brother wouldn't like that, and he took a deep breath, "You ready?"

"I don't think we have any more time," she answered, trying to lighten the tense mood a bit with a smile. He nodded, and then went under.

A glance up at the surface let him see Ellie hesitate for a moment before following him into the water. He would stay close, just in case she needed help or got stuck somewhere.

She seemed to be doing well so far, so he continued towards the darker parts of the water, where the shore was.

He silently came up for air, his lungs burning as he climbed out of the water and towards the tree line. The bandits seemed to be on the other side of the pond which was a problem for them since their backpacks were on that side.

Joel started to assess the situation as Ellie climbed out of the water, trying not to make too much noise as she took deep breaths. She seemed to see the same problem as he did.

"What should we do?" she whispered, and he shook his head, trying to form a plan.

"We're going to need to take them out silently, just in case there are any more around," he glanced over to see her nod, taking in a shaky breath.

"Thankfully there are only two of them," she muttered, and he knew thoughts were catching up to her.

"You take the one over there, and I'll get his buddy," he whispered, breaking her out of her thoughts. She nodded, still looking a bit unsure as she started in the designated direction.

The two bandits were talking, facing each other and not really keeping guard, which made it both easy and hard for him to sneak up on them. Easy since they weren't really paying attention, but hard since the other guy could see past his friend's shoulder.

Joel snuck through the bushes surrounding the area the bandits were around, making sure not to get spotted. He saw Ellie hiding behind her target and he nodded, giving her the signal.

She jumped out from her cover, taking her target out with her switchblade. As soon as the other bandit started to notice his friend was missing, Joel grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth, making sure to not let him go until he wasn't moving.

He laid the bandit on the ground, glancing over at Ellie. She seemed to be shaking slightly from both relief and shock. He knew that she would most likely never get used to the way they had to survive, but for now she had to put up with it.

"Ready to head back?" he asked, and she nodded, jogging to catch up to him.

"I don't think they had any more friends," she commented as they grabbed their backpacks from the bushes. He glanced back at where the bodies were before moving on.

"Let's hope not," he muttered, starting to lead the way back to Tommy's.

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This wasn't really supposed to have a cliffhanger for an ending, but you can interpret it however you want. I said in the summary that this was a "Fourth of July" fanfiction, but the real part doesn't come until next chapter. This chapter was for fun and to help understand the next one, so we still have another chapter to go. Just as a side note, the part where Joel said "this isn't the time to be making maps" was a reference to my first Last of Us fanfiction ("Survivors"), so if you have read that then you might have caught the reference. Either way, please tell me what you thought in a review! See you next chapter!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	2. Explosive Surprises

**krikanalo:** Thanks! Hope you enjoy!

**DarkerLights:** Haha, yeah your thoughts mirrored Ellie's :)

**maximumgirl33:** Here's the next chapter!

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** Glad you enjoy it!

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Chapter 2: Explosive Surprises

"Where exactly are we going Joel?" Ellie's bewildered voice made him look behind him, seeing her with a confused expression on her face.

"You'll see," was his only answer, and he heard her sigh from behind him.

"It'd better be good; I think my feet need to rest," she mumbled. He didn't glance back at her this time.

"Trust me, we're almost there."

Another frustrated sigh made him almost want to tell her the reason they were walking further away from Tommy's, but he couldn't.

_That would ruin the surprise,_ he thought, knowing that Ellie would enjoy it better if she didn't know what was going to happen.

"It's just up here," he pointed to a hill up ahead where a grove of trees were. Ellie didn't comment, and his thoughts wandered back to earlier that day.

_"Everyone understand?" Tommy asked, getting several nods from the workers in the room, Joel included._

_ The workers dispersed from their 'meeting', and Joel walked towards Tommy, hoping there was some way he could help._

_ Tommy seemed to sense this and led him over towards the pile of explosives that was now being packaged._

_ "I have no idea where you ever find this stuff," he muttered, shaking his head in slight amusement._

_ "Yeah, I never would have thought we would see these again, but I think everyone is going to enjoy it," Tommy answered, setting about to work. Joel did the same, knowing they only had limited time to be able to get the surprise running._

_ "I don't think Ellie's ever seen fireworks before," Joel commented as he worked, "They didn't do that sort of thing back in Boston."_

_ "She's going to enjoy it then," Tommy said, glancing over at him. He nodded, wanting to keep it a surprise._

_ "Would it be alright if we head out to the hill for this?" he asked, knowing his plan wouldn't work if Tommy didn't let them go._

_ "To watch them?" his brother questioned, and he nodded, "I don't see why not. The bandits haven't given us any trouble, and no Infected have been seen either. Just be careful."_

_ Joel nodded again, already thinking through what had to be done._

Joel sighed as he was almost up the hill. If Ellie didn't hurry, they were going to be late.

His mind wandered, giving him the surprise of his life when something tackled him from behind and shoved him to the ground. At first he thought a lone bandit had found them, or maybe a Runner, but he relaxed at what he heard next.

"Joel, get down! The bandits are coming back!" Ellie shouted as she tackled into him, sounding completely serious as a loud explosion went off.

"Ellie what are you-?" he started to ask, but turned around and saw a burst of color slowly disappear into the sky.

The surprise had already started, although Ellie didn't know this. She stared at the colors with slight confusion as she glanced over at him.

"What should we do?" she asked, and by the look on her face he knew she wanted to head back to Tommy's to help defend against the 'attack'.

"Keep walking," he instructed, wanting to laugh at her somewhat disbelieving glance.

"We're not going to help?" she asked, increasing her pace a bit. He glanced over at her, trying not to smile.

"We'll have a better view from on top of the hill," he stated, and she gave him a glare.

"By the time we get up the hill, the bandits will have broken in," she argued, and he almost gave in to explaining about the fireworks; _almost_ being the key word.

"We're almost there," was the only thing he could think to say, which was true since they were only a few steps away from a tree that was on the hill.

He sat down when he got to the tree, leaning against it and watching Ellie. She was standing a few feet away, a frown on her face.

"What are you doing?" she asked, confusion and slight annoyance on her face, "Aren't we going to help?"

Joel shook his head, deciding to start explaining.

"Come sit down," he said, patting the ground beside him, "I'll explain what's going on."

Ellie seemed like she was going to argue, but another colorful explosion seemed to change her mind; she scrambled over to where he was and leaned against his shoulder, still not completely relaxed.

"Have you ever seen fireworks?" he asked, and when she shook her head he continued, "I figured as much."

He took a deep breath, letting a small laugh slip when she jolted at another firework being set off.

"What you see there is fireworks."

"Fireworks?" she repeated the foreign word as she stared at the sky, a mixture of curiosity and awe in her eyes.

"They're harmless unless you're standing too close," he explained, "They are essentially explosives that are colored and set off at a time of celebration."

"Is today one of those days?" she asked, glancing over at him quickly before her gaze returned to the sky. He smiled when he realized that she didn't want to miss anything.

"Yes," he answered with a nod, "remember our talk about holidays?"

Ellie nodded at his question, remembrance filling her eyes as she was recalling everything that they had talked about.

"Back before the outbreak, people used to set off fireworks for different holidays," he started to explain, remembering the events like it was yesterday as he listed some, "New Year's Eve, the Fourth of July, Valentine's Day…"

He trailed off, deciding to just enjoy the fireworks unless she wanted to know more. She stayed silent, completely engrossed in staring at the colorful explosions. He knew she would ask questions later, but for now she was silent.

Time wore on as the fireworks continued, and the two of them stayed silent. Ellie had finally relaxed, leaning into his shoulder as she watched the fireworks. She had stopped being surprised when they were set off, and it seemed like she actually was expecting them.

Loud explosions were set off at once, lighting up the sky before everything was quiet. They sat there for a few moments, and he glanced over to see Ellie blinking.

"There are imprints when I close my eyes," she stated, and then stopped after a moment, "Are they all done?"

"Yeah, that was the grand finale," he said, standing up and stretching. The event made him smile, feeling a sense of normality for once.

"Did you know that they were going to be set off?" she asked, standing up as well. He nodded, and she seemed to ponder something for a moment. He started to walk down the hill, knowing she would follow.

"Hey," Ellie said, grabbing his attention as she caught up to him, "Thanks."

He smiled, nodding his head as he continued walking with her beside him.

"You're welcome," he answered, knowing what was coming when Ellie took a deep breath.

"So…" she started hesitantly but then went into 'question mode', "When do you think the next fireworks will be?"

"When we get back to the dam, I'll ask Tommy if he has any spare calendars, and we can mark down the dates, deal?"

"Deal," she answered, smiling at him as they walked back to Tommy's under the night sky.

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I know that this chapter was a bit shorter, but I didn't exactly know how else to expand it. Did you get the Fourth of July reference? I know that Joel started listing a lot of holidays, but I figured it would be sometime during the summer that this would happen (considering it's been a few days since Chapter 1 and they could swim then). When Joel mentioned his and Ellie's talk about holidays, it was referencing my other fanfiction "Unexpected Gifts" (just in case you haven't read it). I might do another chapter, depends on if I get any more ideas. Reviews do help though!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


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